Let's talk out loud about senior sex, celebrating the joys and addressing the challenges. This blog offers senior sex news, views and reviews of sex toys, books, and films that interest sex-positive Boomers and elders. Joan Price is the author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex After 50: How to Maintain – or Regain! – a Spicy, Satisfying Sex Life; the award-winning Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex; and the spicy memoir, Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After 60.

Thursday, April 07, 2011

Sex. Drugs. Rock and roll. If that were the whole story of Big Sex Little Death, Susie Bright's memoir of the '60s and '70s, it would be enough.

But this brilliant memoir is much more, revealing Susie's own childhood abuse and her commitment to social and political activism as a high school drop-out, the underbelly of the cultural/ sexual/ political movement, the heady thrill of working to make a difference in the world, and the bewilderment of being betrayed by the people she least expected to betray her.

I knew Susie Bright as a sexuality writer, but until this book from Seal Press, I had no idea how smart and deep she was. She's the historian that the sixties need -- a clear-eyed view of protesters, activists (many emotionally damaged), and those who went along for the ride.

Yes, there's plenty of sex, too, but for much of the book, it's body parts that go bump, devoid of passion, emotional connection, or even pleasure. That's part of the sixties political and sexual "revolution" that we're embarrassed to admit now: women were expected to have sex freely but we weren't supposed to expect our partners to have any clue about satisfying us. Still, part of Susie's fantasy was true, at least some of the time:

Women wouldn't be catty. No one would bother to be jealous. Who would have the time? Sex would be friendly and kind and fun. You'd get to see what everyone was like in bed. You'd learn things in bed... Exclusivity would be for bores and babies.

Susie doesn't glamorize the sexual/feminist revolution or gloss over the deep disillusions when women fought each other (she got death threats for her pro-pornography stance), betrayed each other, and, through it all, loved each other.

For me, the most interesting part of Big Sex Little Death was the story behind On Our Backs, the lesbian magazine that Susie co-founded. Before On Our Backs, female models, from fashion ads to male magazine centerfolds, "were shot the same way kittens and puppies are photographed for holiday calendars: in fetching poses, with no intentions of their own." In contrast, "The great relief of dyke porn," writes Susie, "was that all that went out the window. We had an objective on our minds... we had a sexual story to tell."

I hope these snippets encourage you to read Big Sex Little Death for yourself -- it's an engrossing read, and guaranteed to be more than you expect.

Subscribe Now

News, Views, and Events from Joan Price

Invitation

I invite you to join my mailing list. Instead of having to chase me all over the Internet, I'll come to your inbox with interesting senior sex news, views, practical tips, links to articles, announcements about my events and webinars, and special offers just for my mailing list.
I value you and I won't spam you, share your information with anyone, or do anything else that I suspect might annoy you. Thanks for being a part of my community. Sign up here. Thank you so much!

About Joan

Join me in talking out loud about senior sex! I am an advocate for ageless sexuality and the author of The Ultimate Guide to Sex after 50, Naked at Our Age: Talking Out Loud about Senior Sex, and Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty. I edited Ageless Erotica.
This blog offers news, views, and reviews related to sex and aging. I hope that by bringing the topics that concern us out in the open and sharing our attitudes and experiences, we'll start to change society -- one mind at a time!
You can read more about me at http://www.joanprice.com.

The Ultimate Guide to Sex after 50

Buy Ultimate Guide to Sex after 50

Watch Joan talking about senior sex

Please Support Our Advertisers

The following advertisers support my educational mission and your sexual pleasure. Please support them by clicking to their websites and purchasing their fine products.

Sybian

The Pulse

Überlube silicone lubricant

Smitten Kitten

CatalystCon 2018

Advertise here? Ask Joan a question?

Does your company offer a product or service that you'd like our sex-positive Boomers, seniors, and elders to know about with a text or banner ad? Or do you want to contact Joan for another reason? Email Joan Price.

Tantus

Joan & Dr. Ruth love Eroscillator

Babeland

Hear Joan's books on Audible.com

View Joan interviewed on Bay Sunday 2015

Free audiobook

Talk to Joan

Do you have questions you’d like to ask Joan privately about issues interfering with your sexual enjoyment? As a sex educator specializing in senior sexuality, Joan Price is available for private, educational consultations (not erotic or sensual) via phone, email, Skype, or FaceTime, or in person in Sonoma County and San Francisco Bay Area. For information, please email joan. Serious inquiries only, please.

Top Sexual Health Blog

Top Sex Blogger 2013

#30 of Top Sex Bloggers 2012

We're #14 of Top 100 2011!

We're #10 of Top 100 2010!

If this blog is valuable to you, I welcome your contribution to support the writer!

Review product disclosure

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued new rules for bloggers: If we receive payment or free products for review, we need to disclose this. I think this is clear in my reviews, but here it is in plain words:

If I review a book, I received a review copy from the publisher or the author. This in no way influences what I say about the book.

If I review an sex toy or related product that I received free from the retailer or affiliate, I mention or thank my source in the review. I have also reviewed products that I bought, and I'll clarify this from now on.

I do not receive payment for my reviews -- or for anything else I write on this blog. I do have affiliate arrangements with the companies listed with logos here, which means I get a small commission if you order through the link I provide. This does not affect your price in any way.

Whether I receive a product for review or buy it, I give honest reviews -- that's what my readers expect, that's what I insist on doing, and that's what the providers of these products expect, also.